The original “Avatar” movie is the highest grossing movie of all time, making $2.9 billion. Its sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” is the third highest at $2.3 billion. On Dec. 19, the third movie in the series, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” opened in theaters. I was able to see it opening night and have a few opinions on the movie. Before I delve into that, here’s a quick recap on the first two movies.
“Avatar” follows Jake Sully as he explores the alien world of Pandora. Jake was originally a human, but over time, scientists figured out how to link their human body with a Na’vi body. The Na’vi are the native people who live on Pandora. As Jake travels through Pandora he eventually meets Neytiri, who is the daughter of the chief of the Omatikaya clan. As Jake falls in love with Pandora, he also falls in love with Neytiri. Meanwhile, the RDA—a military unit from earth—is using Jake to attempt to get the Omatikaya clan to relocate, because the clan’s home is right on top of the mineral reserve that the RDA wants. Jake’s choice to betray the RDA for Pandora and the Na’vi leads to a major battle between the two groups; the Na’vi win the battle and the first movie ends there.
The second movie, “Avatar: The Way of Water” begins shortly after the first movie’s timeframe. Neytiri and Jake are living happily and just had their first child, Neteyam. We see the family continue to grow as Kiri, their adopted daughter, is introduced to the family. Shortly after, Lo’ak is born and finally, Tuk is born. She is Jake and Neytiri’s final child.
While the Na’vi managed to send the RDA back to earth, that only lasted 15 years. The RDA is after Jake, so he decides to take his family elsewhere. He leaves his clan to go find the Metkayina, another clan on Pandora. The Metkayina look much different than the Omatikaya clan- they are adapted for the sea, while the Omatikaya are adapted for the forest.
The rest of the movie follows the Sullys as they try to live with the Metkayina. We see relationships start to form; including a romantic one between Lo’ak and Tsireya, the daughter of the Metkayina chief. We see them adapt to the ways of the reef people and fall in love with the sea. Lo’ak even bonds with a Tulkun, an animal that is very special to the Metkayina. Towards the end of the movie, the RDA figured out where Jake was hiding. This leads to another major battle, and the third movie “Avatar: Fire and Ash” begins right after this battle. If you have not watched either film, I would suggest you do, especially if you want to watch “Avatar: Fire and Ash”; both are phenomenal.
As a huge fan of the original and sequel, I was very excited to see the third. Coming after two very famous movies, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” had high expectations to meet, and I really think it met them. The characters, new or old, are all very interesting in this movie. Varang, a new character and main antagonist, stuck out to me, alongside Lo’ak.
Characters
Varang is a newly introduced character. She is from the Mangkwan Clan and is the Tsaik, a religious leader. The Mangkwan clan goes against Pandora’s goddess, Eywa. They feel she betrayed them after no help was sent when their village and forest burned down, and this betrayal and fire caused their clan to use flame and violence.
Varang is a unique character. Seeing Na’vi vs. Na’vi was newly introduced into the “Avatar” universe through her. It made the world seem very similar to ours and also showed Varang’s destructive nature. Her hatred for Eywa is also new, which adds depth to the plot. My main issue with her character is that after she developed a relationship with Quaritch, an RDA leader in a Na’vi body, she just became a regular, frankly boring villain. When she fought she did not use her normal, dark ways. Even in the final battles, all she did was shoot fire arrows. We barely saw her and her clan after the relationship too, and this made it feel like the directors simply wanted to quickly wrap up things with Varang and her clan.
We got to see other characters develop with their struggles throughout the movie as well, like Lo’ak. Lo’ak blames himself for a lot of the events in “Avatar: The Way of Water.” While they are not his fault, Lo’ak and his father cannot see that, and as an audience, seeing his guilt and pain unfold pushed the movie forward and made it much more interesting. Lo’ak goes through so many changes, including how he slowly gets over that guilt he carries. He has always been the rebellious son and remains that way. His rebellious side is a major factor in the movie, because multiple choices and plot points would not have happened without Lo’ak and his rebellious nature. Varang and Lo’ak were the most interesting characters, but there were many more important ones.
All main characters in the movie are important to the plot. A few of those include Ronal, Neytiri, Tsireya and Jake. Ronal plays more into her part as the clan’s religious leader, while Neytiri struggles with forgiving the RDA and humans because of everything they’ve taken from her. Tsireya starts growing into her skin and becomes more confident, and Jake learns to accept Lo’ak and understand him better. Since Ronal’s introduction in the second film, she and Neytiri have always been bitter towards each other. Neither of them are used to an equal, but even underneath this, the two protect each other when needed. It was nice to see their relationship play out and how they look out for one another. It was evident that the two women have gone through so much and they both understood each other’s pain.
Overall
For the third movie in the “Avatar” series, it was phenomenal. The visuals were beautiful and felt like it was actually filmed on another planet. The writers did very well closing off the issues with the RDA and Quatrich. Many characters went through changes in their relationships, romantic or not, and I personally loved seeing more of Lo’ak and Tsireya’s relationship and definitely want to have more of that in future films.
Jake and Neytiri had hardships that they overcame together, which is another new thing. It was nice to see they were not a picture perfect couple. Jake also had obstacles to overcome with his children, especially Lo’ak. We got to see more of Spider, the adopted human son of the Sullys, and his relationship with the family. With that said, one thing I did not like was how much we saw of Spider. I have never been a big fan of him and his part in the movie was very unlikable. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is clearly fantasy, but James Cameron—the director—was able to make it feel realistic. The physical changes Spider goes through changed that level of realism; therefore, Spider and his role were really the only thing I disliked about the film.
There is not much, but some parts felt unnecessary or forgotten about. Varang’s role, which I discussed earlier, was one of the things that was forgotten about. Some unnecessary parts include the continuation of Tulkun hunting- Tulkun are whale-like animals with close relationships to the Na’vi. In “Avatar: The Way of Water”, humans were hunting the Tulkun for their resources. When it ended, that point was wrapped up and I was honestly shocked to see it come back. Finally, the ending of the movie did not feel like closure. Some key points of the film were not discussed after they happened, which meant that when the movie finished up, I was very confused. Other than that, I do not have any more complaints and found it very enjoyable.
I would recommend this movie to anyone, even if you are not a fan of the originals. If you are a fan of the world of Pandora and the “Avatar” franchise, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is a must see. I would rate it a 10/10, just like the previous ones. Even with some unlikable moments, the movie is still able to redeem itself. It is currently in theaters and will be available to stream in a few months. If you are able to see it in theaters, do it. It is a totally different experience on the big screen than a TV screen. Even so, “Avatar” is made by Disney, so if you cannot go to a movie theater or buy it on streaming but have Disney+, it will eventually be added. However, if you can, I really recommend seeing it- you will feel so many different emotions while watching, even if you are not a huge fan of the franchise.
